An Alternative Detention
by Malvena Black
Summary: Rose really doesn't like Scorpius and he doesn't like her right? So what (if anything) will change when Valentine's day brings an alternative to detention? beginning RosexScorpius One-shot


**An Alternative Detention**

A/N: This was written for Skihale's birthday bash challenge.

This is my first none femslash story, but I couldn't not take the challenge (no it's not an addiction :P)  
It's a tiny bit AU in the fact that I decided to keep McGonagall as Headmistress even though canon says she retired before 2017 when Rose, Scorpius and the others started school.

Disclaimer: As usual I don't own the books or characters they all belong to J. K. Rowling and I promise to put them back where I found them once I'm done playing with them :P

* * *

Rose excitedly skipped down the hall, as she turned a corner she almost ran into her cousin James and Elektra McKennan who were... well it did look a bit like kissing, but also kinda like they were trying to eat each others face. _Ewww_ thought Rose and giggled. The sound made the couple jump apart, when James noticed just who had interrupted them he turned crimson and spluttered something about not telling Albus or their parents.  
Rose smirked "Fine I won't say a word, but next time we visit Hogsmead you're paying for anything I want... right?"  
For a second it looked like James would protest, but he huffed and nodded "deal".  
Rose sent the couple a brilliant smile and continued on her way down to the great hall.  
This was why she loved Valentine's day, tons of people embarrassed to be caught with someone, willing to strike a deal.  
Rose chuckled her parents would probably not be too happy if they knew uncle George taught her stuff that bordered on blackmailing – but really what did they expect would happen when they allowed him to babysit? And it's not like she ever threatened to tell anyone anything – people just assumed she would.

The great hall was already pretty packed, it seemed like almost everyone was excited about today. She didn't really understand all the fuss about flowers, chocolate and horrible poetry, but hey if it made people happy why not?  
She spotted Albus halfway down the Gryffindor table and quickly picked a seat next to her friend. "So... why's everyone at breakfast so early?" she asked him.  
Albus smiled at her "Well people say McGonagall has an announcement" he took a sip of his pumpkin juice and looked up at the head table "it's probably just about behaving today".  
Rose rolled her eyes, but then she winked at him "don't we always?"  
Albus laughed "well I wouldn't say that... how many detentions have you had this month?"  
She huffed at her best but slightly annoying friend "two... but it's always stupid Scorpius' fault he's such a prat and I just want to hex him".  
"Mmhmm sure" was all Albus said now focused on the transfiguration book next to his plate. Rose glared.  
It was totally true, it really wasn't her fault that the arrogant Slytherin got on her nerves all the time. He was just such a prat and he kept mocking her and her friends. And someone had to stand up to him right? Even if it meant detention once in a while.

The great hall suddenly grew silent and everyone looked up at the head table. McGonagall had stood up and was addressing the students:

"Today is, as you know, Valentine's day and I understand that many of you find it very exciting, but we still expect you to be well behaved. As a small treat dinner tonight will be a little different as the other teachers and I have decided to let you all sit at smaller tables with your friends and/or a date".

Excited whispers broke out through out the hall, but quickly died out when the headmistress held up her hands.

"We've also modified detentions for tonight, students caught fighting or otherwise misbehaving will not be allowed to pick their seating tonight, but will instead be assigned a seat by the teacher giving them detention".

Rose blushed when the headmistress swept her gaze across the room to make sure she'd been heard, she could have sworn McGonagall had been looking right at her, but then she finished her sweep said "Thank you" and returned to her seat.

Albus turned to look at her "Well that should be interesting" she rose one eyebrow questioning and he continued "well imagine getting another detention and end up having dinner with a Slytherin?" Her eyes widened with horror, there was no way in hell she was having dinner with someone like Scorpius Malfoy... never!  
She shot a glance at the Slytherin table and locked eyes with the Slytherin in question, as he quickly looked away she noticed that Scorpius too looked a little ill at the possibility of having to endure dinner with her.  
_Never going to happen _she thought _I can stay out of trouble for one day. I'll just avoid him, so there'll be no reason to argue. _

That proved to be easier said than done. First period was Potions with the Slytherins and they'd barely started the lesson before Scorpius "accidentally" bumped into Rose making her ad way too much asphodel root to her potion.

"Stop it you prat" she hissed at him.

"What? Oh messed up your potion already Weasley?" he snickered.

Rose growled, he was so damn infuriating. She really wished she could wipe the smirk off of his face, but she wasn't gonna risk another detention not today at least. She turned her attention back to her potion and hoped beyond hope that it could still be salvaged. As she worked to fix it she felt eyes on her and looked up to find Albus staring at her.  
"I'm glad you're keeping your cool today, you can always pay him back during the next potions lesson." he whispered.  
She sent him a quick smile and returned to stirring the cauldron – annoyingly her potion wasn't anywhere near as clear as it should be, at least Scorpius's potion wasn't much better.

Second period was a free period, so Rose hurried up to the library to try and get most of the work done on her transfiguration essay. She still had another day, but why wait till the last moment?  
She looked around only a few people were in the library today – at the next table over a Ravenclaw boy was working furiously on some assignment or another and in a nearby corner a group of girls was discussing how to get their hands on love potions.  
This made Rose roll her eyes, she was really glad she wasn't one of the girls who fawned over boys all the time. She refocused on her essay and sighed with relief knowing that Scorpius hardly ever sat foot in the library, so she'd be safe for the moment.  
Just as the thought flittered through her mind she heard Scorpius's voice behind a nearby shelf.  
Rose groaned and wanted to bang her head against the table in frustration. Why? Why couldn't she get a moments peace today of all days?

She slowly got up and moved towards the shelf, trying her best not to make too much noise. Standing on her toes she looked through the space between some books and caught a glimpse of the infuriating Slytherin arguing with one of his friends, she couldn't really make out what the argument was about, not that she cared.  
Then looking up Rose noticed a pile of books on the top shelf _hmm if I just give them a little push _she thought impishly.  
She reached up and pushed the books off the shelf. Cursing and groaning from the other side told her that at least one of the books had hit her target.  
She laughed _maybe today wasn't such a bad day after all._

Halfway through her 4th period Rose started to wonder if her earlier thoughts had jinxed her.  
Her 3rd period had been somewhat tolerable aside from being covered in dirt after a "fight" with Professor Longbottom's new batch of mandrakes and wasn't fifth years too old to bother with mandrakes anyway?  
4th period was transfiguration – when she had been asked to demonstrate turning a chair into a rabbit, Scorpius and his friends had snickered and pointed at her.  
Rose had gotten so flustered that she had swished her wand a little to hard ending up with a neon green rabbit.

That's why she now found herself with the majority of her class snickering in the background and a not so impressed professor.  
_See it was once again the stupid Slytherins fault! _She thought as she sat back down.  
She glared at Scorpius who acted like he didn't notice a thing.  
"It was a very good rabbit" Albus voice sounded from her right, he smiled at her when she turned to look at him.

"But it was green!"

"So? Mine looks like a mouse with really long ears"

Rose had to give him that. Albus's rabbit was smaller than a teacup with ears that dragged along the desk.

"Thank you"

He just shock his head and smiled "that's what friends are for right?"

Eventually the lesson ended and Rose hurriedly packed her bag in order to get away from the stupid Slytherin, she had had more than enough of him already. She hurried down the hall only to run straight into Scorpius knocking both of them over.

"Ummph... look where you're going Weasley!" he hissed.

"Why don't you look where YOU are going Malfoy?!" she yelled back while trying to gather her things and shove them back into her bag.

"Me? I'm not the one who thinks rabbit's are green!"

"How dare you... you.. you inbreed little prat!"

"Freckle face!"

"Blonde git!"

"Mudblood daughter!"

"Death eater spawn!"

Both drew their wands intent on hexing each other, but before any of them managed to verbalize a spell another voice sounded through the hallway.

"Enough!"

Two sets of eyes widened comically at the sound of the Headmistress's voice.

"Oh umm professor we were just.. umm" Rose stammered, she glanced at Scorpius who looked even paler than usual. He clearly had no idea how to get out of this one either.

"I believe I was very clear about behaving today. Fighting in the hallways Miss Weasley? Mr. Malfoy?" McGonagall looked from one to the other, both seemed unable to explain their behavior. "10 points from both Gryffindor and Slytherin, and both of you have detention tonight."

"Professor... um" Scorpius said all the while refusing to look at Rose "where are we going to sit tonight?"

Rose could have sworn she saw a glint of mischief in the professors eyes before she answered "well with each other of course, maybe it will teach you not to fight. Now go back to your common rooms both of you".

Rose dejectedly walked back to the Gryffindor tower. She had tried so hard not to get detention she really had, but she'd failed and now she had to have dinner with Malfoy! She groaned _how am I gonna be able to eat while looking at the arrogant git? _

Albus was waiting for her by the portrait of the fat lady, seeing her sad face he hurried over to give her a hug.  
"Rosie what happened?"  
She shook her head and hoped she wouldn't cry.  
"McGonagall gave Scorpius and I detention..." She didn't even have to finish for him to understand.

_Later in the afternoon_

Rose paced in front of the mirror.  
She was trying to decide if she should just not bother with her clothes or actually dress up. She didn't want Scorpius to think that she'd dressed nicely for him, but she didn't want him mocking her appearance either.  
Frustrated she threw herself on the bed. She couldn't believe how hard it was to dress for a simple dinner, especially since she wasn't even trying to impress him... right?  
She could hear talking outside and shortly after Julie and Claira entered their dorm. Julie chuckled when she saw Rose's flushed face "do you need help Rose?"

Rose hesitated but Julie and Claira were two of the more popular girls in her year, so maybe they could help her out.  
"yeah... McGonagall gave me detention... again" the girls smiled at her.  
"So who are you having dinner with?" Claira asked  
"Malfoy..." she mumbled.  
She glared when the girls laughed "You have a date with a Slytherin? Oh poor Rose".  
"It's NOT a date, it's a detention!" she huffed and pulled a pillow over her head.  
Julie and Claira came over and sat on the bed with her "sorry we laughed, I guess it's only funny when it isn't yourself" Julie said and removed the pillow to look at Rose "So... do you still want our help?"

Rose nodded "yes I don't want to look stupid, because he'll just mock me and make me angry again".

The two girls pulled her to her feet and started looking through her clothes. Rose was a little fascinated with the selection process; Julie when through everything sorting some items into a second pile which Claira then looked through, once that was done Julie retrieved a few items from her own and Claira's dressers and added them to Claira's pile.  
None of them said a word and the whole process took less than 10 minutes.

"Now try this on" Said Julie and held out a green dress she'd gotten from Claira's dresser.  
Rose quickly removed her school clothes and pulled the dress on, looking in the mirror she had to admit it looked pretty good. The dress had small sleeves and a v-neck (not very revealing thank merlin!) the hem fell just below her knees and the forest green color looked good with her hair.  
She turned to Julie and Claira who both smiled "I actually think it looks better on you than on me" Claira commented.  
Rose beamed at them "thank you" she turned back to the mirror "what about my hair?"  
"Let me help with that and Julie will do your make-up" came Claira's response  
All in all it took maybe half an hour for the girls to apply a cute natural looking make-up and curl Rose's hair into nice loose curls.

Looking in the mirror now Rose couldn't quite believe that she was looking at herself, she actually looked kinda pretty. She'd added a pair of Julie's earrings and her own shoes and necklace to finish the look.  
She was a little nervous though, she couldn't even remember the last time she'd bothered wearing a dress and Scorpius was sure to laugh at her if she tripped in these shoes. _Maybe this isn't such a good idea?  
_But before she could change her mind she heard Albus calling her name from the common room.  
_Deep breaths Rose Deep breathes it will be totally fine. _

Albus eyes widened slightly when he saw her "um... well... you look pretty Rose".  
"Surprised? I almost couldn't recognize myself in the mirror, but I'm glad you think I look okay"  
She smiled gratefully at him, no longer feeling quite as nervous "who are you having dinner with?"  
He laughed "Oh just a couple of other Gryffindors who didn't want a date either - nowhere near as exciting as dinner with a Slytherin".  
They both laughed as the made their way down to the great hall.

Rose got a little nervous as they entered the great hall and she realized quite a few people were starring at her.  
"Don't mind them, they're just jealous because you're smart and look good" she shoot Albus a grateful smile as his comment eased her nerves somewhat.

"Miss Weasley" McGonagall motioned towards a table set for two. _Really? I'm having dinner with Scorpius ALONE! S_he had hopped to be placed with a few other couples._ Not that we are a couple or anything _she thought.  
She moved towards the table but paused when she realized that Scorpius was already there. _Deep breathes... deep breathes... and don't hex him over dinner!  
_She moved to her seat trying to ignore the whispers and stares from people as they realized that the two of them were having dinner together.  
Even Scorpius was staring at her but not quite in his usual annoying manner.

"Good evening Wea... I mean Rose" Rose looked up in surprise, but couldn't help but smile maybe it wouldn't be as bad as she had feared.  
"Good evening Scorpius" the two of them feel silent, each of them trying to figure out what to say next.  
Finally Rose spoke up "Sooo... how was quidditch practice? Think you'll beat us in the next match?"  
Scorpius seemed surprised that she even talked to him but then he actually smiled "well I think we're pretty good" Rose chuckled "and now that Elion is back it's going to be a close fight" He smirked at her, but for some reason she didn't find is quite as annoying as she normally did "I take it there's no way you'll divulge Gryffindors strategies to help us out?" He asked one blond eyebrow rising to emphasize the question.

"No way – you'll have to beat us fair and square if you want to win" She sent him a smile and added "Even though I'm not sure you know what fair play is".

Luckily just as they both fell silent and struggled to come up with another topic, that wouldn't cause a fight, the food arrived. Both of them ate in silence occasionally glancing at each other. _The food is pretty good _Rose thought _and Scorpius isn't being too annoying.  
_After awhile she looked up from her plate to find Scorpius staring at her, she was relieved to see no trace of his usual arrogance, instead he blushed slightly and quickly looked back down.  
Rose couldn't help it, really it wasn't her fault, her giggles just couldn't be held in any longer – she had managed to make the normally confident and quit stoic Slytherin blush and now she felt almost giddy.  
Scorpius glared at her and grumbled "what?" which just made poor Rose laugh even harder. Scorpius almost hissed at her and stood up intent on leaving.

"Wait!" she hesitated "I'm sorry... it's just... I thought it was kinda cute that I c...could make you blush" she stammered. Her face turning as red as her hair. Looking up through her bangs, she saw that Scorpius had turned to look at her.

"Umm Cute?" He looked incredulously at her and silently sat back down.  
The silence seemed to last forever before he mumbled "you look pretty in that dress".

Rose beamed at him "Thank you Scorpius" she pursed her lips in contemplation and then took a deep breath "I'm sorry I called you a git... and... and death eater spawn."  
The apology seemed to surprise Scorpius even more than the whole cute thing "Well you're full of surprises" He smiled at her, a genuine smile this time "I was being a git and well I guess you could call me spawn of a former death eater next time?" She laughed and this time he laughed along with her.

They actually managed to talk about their families without getting into any arguments; Scorpius was very interested in her mothers work in the ministry and Rose was fascinated by Scorpius' stories about the Malfoy family. They both laughed when Rose told him how her mother had punched his dad during an argument and when Scorpius reminded her that his dad had once made her mother's teeth grow huge.  
And before they knew it the evening was almost over.

They sat there looking at each other for a while "I... well this is probably the only "good" detention I've ever had" Rose said.

"True. Now it's back to writing lines or scrubbing trophies as punishment" came his reply.

They looked at the other students who had started to leave, then at each other.

"would you..."

"I..."

They blushed and Scorpius motioned for Rose to go first.

"Well I just wanted to say that I've had a really fun night... and that maybe we shouldn't listen too much to what our parents think about each other?" Scorpius smiled at that.

"I agree with both - I was going to ask if..." he hesitated, but when she smiled encouragingly at him he continued "if maybe you'd like to go out with me next weekend when we go to Hogsmead?"

Rose was surprised, but seeing how well dinner had gone why not? "Sure I'd like that".

They both smiled the entire way back to their common rooms.

_Maybe just Maybe it was possible for a Gryffindor and a Slytherin to fall in love._


End file.
